Can you believe it? Two people didn't claim their prizes for TheOneRing.net and Sideshow Collectibles Easy Win Giveaway! Maybe you are one of our 'round two' potential winners! Check it out now! [Winners List!]

Academy award winner and Ernst Young Entrepreneur of the Year Richard Taylor of Weta Workshop & Digital says The Dyslexia Foundation of New Zealand is offering much needed debate and rationale for families and individuals that are experiencing the challenges of trying to make a difference in a world judged by academic achievement. “The kids that find success at Weta are the ones that day-dreamed in their Maths exam and drew monsters on the backs of their pencil cases,” he said. [More]

Kirsten writes: I thought your readers might be interested in this art show I have coming up at 'Roq la Rue Gallery' (2312 2nd Ave Seattle WA 98121). It's called "Amazing Visions" and features some of the best and brightest talent in Sci Fi/Fantasy. I'm thrilled to say LOTR and King Kong conceptual artist Jeremy Bennett (people who watched the KK special features will know him!) is in the show with three brand new paintings all based off his Mordor conceptual work. They, of course, are stunning. I will have the images posted online by the opening date, Friday April 13th...but interested parties can request a preview! And of course everyone is welcome to come to the opening, or check out the show during it's month long run. [www.roqlarue.com]

King Lamoni writes: I saw the LOTR Chopper pic from the German LOTR Exhibit. I thought you might be interested in my latest LOTR project. Attached are a few of photos. I've been wanting to do this for at least 3 years. I spent two weeks getting it ready for the painting and many months planning and making sketches of it. The idea for the graphics on the car came from two of the banners I have (Arwen's banner for the tree on the hood and elvish graphic on the roof and Gondor's banner for the wing pattern on the sides.) I also have some more pictures on cardomain.com [More]

The folks from Billy's Loons Charities write: We are excited to announce an Auction of a one-of-a-kind Collectible, a t-shirt signed by the great new Glasgow-based band, BEECAKE. You can read about BEECAKE and listen to snippets of some of their songs here. The band consists of Billy Boyd (Vocals, Guitar) John Crawford (Vocals, Drums) Billy Johnston (Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards) and Rick Martin (Vocals, Bass). All of the proceeds from the Auction will go The Scottish Youth Theatre, where Billy Boyd is a Patron of and Billy's Loons Charities is a Sponsor. Many thanks to Billy, John, BJ and Rick for signing the shirt and to Flora for the donation of this signed t-shirt that she won in the Silent Auction at ORC 2007! [More]

The actor, known for his role as Frodo in Lord of the Rings, and avid gamer discusses the evolving relationship between the video game industry and Hollywood. The actor who has starred in a number of Electronic Arts' The Lord of the Rings video games as Frodo spends a lot of his free time playing games. That was one reason why Microsoft selected Elijah Wood to host the MTV unveiling of Xbox 360 a few years ago. He's also known as the voice of Mumble in Warner Bros. Home Entertainment's Happy Feet movie, which is out now on DVD, Blu-Ray Disc and HD-DVD. Unsurprisingly, Midway Games adapted the tale of a tap dancing and tone deaf penguin for Wii, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. It marks the first time that Wood, whose brother Zach is a producer at Midway's San Diego studio, has worked with the game maker. [More]

HOLLYWOOD - Ian McKellen has hit out at Hollywood movie producers for encouraging homosexual actors to remain 'in the closet.' The X-Men star, who revealed he was gay on British radio in 1988, has in the past criticized actors for not 'coming out.' But the 67-year-old now blames the forces behind the film industry for pressuring homosexual actors to keep their sexuality a secret. McKellen says, "With all that liberal attitude (in Hollywood), you have a local industry which is saying to local people who live in the area--'When you come to work, you are not gay.' [More]

Take an early look on our 'DVD Tuesday' feature...every Monday! Check out some TV on DVD goodies like 'ABC Wide World of Sports: 40 Years of Glory', 'The Lost Room' & 'Twin Peaks - S2'. There are a few compilations out tomorrow; 'Gene Autry Collection: Home in Wyomin' & 'Mario Bava Collection: Volume 1'. The big releases of the week are 'The Good Shepherd', 'Charlotte's Web' & 'Volver'. Personally I'm interested in 'Death of a President'! Check out the whole list here! [More]

Sources inside Peter Jackson's '3foot6' and WETA have sent along word that Peter Jackson is working on a live action version of the popular 'Powerpuff Girls' cartoon. "WETA Workshop is already hard at work on props and miniatures based on the cartoon," our source reveals "Pete is very excited about this project and is looking for a Summer 2008 release". Meanwhile, news that his other projects, directing 'The Lovely Bones' and producing 'Damnbusters', have all been put on the back burner.

Translated by Nimthiriel: SANTIAGO.- Viggo Mortensen´s biography and passport may say he’s American, but the years spent living in Argentina left a deep print on him. Two examples: before starting this interview, he receives a gift box with “alfajores” (a type of argentinian biscuit filled with milk caramel) and a mug with the name of his favorite argentinean soccer team San Lorenzo de Almagro, which transforms itself into an improvised “mate” (a leaf that is made into tea, and is very popular in Argentina) that will accompany him during the long list of interviews he has to give. [More]

Jewels passed on the USA Today blogging of Middle-earth Idols! TORn gets credited instead of our friends at www.marsproductions.net and our own Xoanon is part of the production, but Ashlee & Rachel Scott did all the work! Read the blog and what others have to say here

The LOTR movie trilogy is well represented on CNN.com's list of the ten best movie battle scenes. It also shows up on the worst ten. Other beloved geek films make the list along with the obvious war films. Thanks to GreenHeart for the tip. Read all about it at CNN.com

Ever wanted to lead an army? Or just pretend for a day that you were King Theoden from LOTR? Well, lucky you because I can reveal that soon you will be able to re-live the trilogy in a new documentary coming out later this year, called ‘Reclaiming The Blade’. Just last week, the crew from RTB popped into the Workshop to talk to Richard and our Senior Swordsmith, Peter Lyon about the making of the weapons for the LOTR trilogy, The Last Samurai and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. [More]

EA Ties Up Lord Of The Rings License Through 2008 Major publisher and developer Electronic Arts has renewed its license to release additional games set within the literary world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings through 2008. EA has been responsible for recent titles based on New Line Cinema’s film adaptations of the classic novels since 2001. In addition, EA acquired the rights to develop games based on the classic The Lord Of The Rings book series itself in 2005, thus bringing all The Lord Of The Rings titles under EA's umbrella. Previously, Vivendi Universal Games had separately licensed the right to use the Tolkein books from the Saul Zaentz Company, a situation which led to competing Lord Of The Rings games being released at the time the first movie debuted. However, Vivendi's titles, which included a game based on The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit, failed to garner either critical or consumer appeal. [More]

The girls from M.A.R.S. Productions write: We are pleased to announce the following U.S. appearance by Lord of the Rings Calligrapher, Daniel Reeve (danielreeve.co.nz) will be the keynote speaker at Thinking Creatively 2007, the annual conference of the Art Director's Club of New Jersey. The conference reinforces the relevance of what creative people do best - imagining possibilities and creating them! [More]